We may be a bit biased...

 
 
 
 

....But we think he is really cute!

Cutie

 
 
 
 

Evan

Evan is getting along great with his arm. He hasn't really complained about it...the only time he does is when he thinks about not getting to wrestle. I have checked at school and he is doing AWESOME! He has been writing with his left hand and doing just fine. His teacher asks if he needs extra time and he says "no, I'm fine" His friends have been helping him zip his coat and he is able to get dressed by himself with no complaints. His teacher has offered him help in the lunchroom and he says "no thanks". He doesn't want to be different than the others....he wants to be "normal" so he is making himself as normal as possible. I think Ben and I are taking it harder than he is and giving him way more attention over it than he would like. I hate that he has to have a cast on, but it is amazing how kids bounce back so quickly.

More cookies please

Here is Eli doing the sign for MORE. He points and grunts when he wants something, so we are trying to teach him this. It is so cute when he actually does it! Don't mind the other two boys beating each other up in the background!

Oh, and Eli LOVES cookies!

Thumbs

Both Evan and Isaac are thumb suckers. We have been trying everything to get them to stop...on Sunday I decided to try this fingernail polish stuff called "THUMS". It tastes very nasty and it is supposed to remind them to not suck their thumbs. Evan only sucks his at night when he is going to bed, or when he is watching t.v. and usually he has just forgotten...it just takes him a simple reminder and he takes his thumb right out. Isaac, on the other hand, is a different story. He not only sucks his thumb, but now has started chewing on his fingernails to the point of being raw. I think that all started when he went to school....he is very nervous and I think he did that instead of sucking his thumb. 

Anyway, we tried THUMS yesterday. For Evan, that is what he needed. It tasted nasty and he didn't do it. I found Isaac in the chair yesterday afternoon with a glass of water. He was sucking his thumb, then taking a big drink of water to wash down the nasty flavor! Seriously, I may have to cut his thumbs off!

28 Days

When we were driving home from the doctor, Evan said to me "28 days". I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. He kept saying "28 days Mom". Then he explained to me....the doctor told him he has his cast on for 4 weeks. Evan added it up and it was 28 days. I don't think he realizes what he has coming....he asked us how he was going to wrestle with "this thing" on his arm...

Broken

Evan broke his arm tonight at wrestling practice. Actually it was after practice....he was running and somehow ran into the wall. I took him to the ER tonight because he was just about beside himself in pain....The break was very obvious in the X-ray. The ER doctor splinted it tonight and we will have to go see our family doctor tomorrow to see what to do next. Luckily, it was a clean break and they don't have to reset anything. He has been quite a trooper through it all. At the ER and when we got him, he hasn't complained of the pain at all. We shall see what the morning brings.

decorating decor

Some people really worry about what the decorating "decor" is....does army men count as a decor?

Dancin' in his Soul

We were at a friend's wedding this weekend. Evan loved the dancing. I think he would have danced all night if we let him! Notice how sweaty he is! He takes it very seriously!

Just life....

Tonight at my monthly Women of Today meeting, we had to go around and say what we were thankful for. The rule was you could just say "my family" "good health" or something generic like that. Those are things were are all thankful for. We had to think deeper. I struggled for a bit, because those truly are the things that matter the most to me. Then I started thinking some more.....

Lately, I have been so consumed with how busy life has been lately. Seems like we are running here or there all the time and barely have time to breathe.  For example, Friday we didn't have school and I took Eli to his 1 year checkup and then to Waterloo with a friend in the afternoon. Friday night we went to Clarksville for Bob's birthday, Saturday we had a wedding, Sunday we went to Grundy for my mom and dad's birthday, Tuesday Ben had night class and Evan had math night at the school. He missed wrestling practice to attend the math night. Tonight we had to be in Charles City at the bank to close out our loan at 4:00 which meant we had to leave school a few minutes early to get there on time. Then it was home for supper, then I had a meeting.  Tomorrow night Evan has wrestling practice. Next week, the real fun starts, as Ben starts the wrestling season. He is going to be the high school assistant coach this year. The list goes on and on....Life has not slowed down and doesn't look like it is going to any time soon. 

We are BUSY, and I am so THANKFUL for it. I need to remind myself of this. I am thankful that I have friends to spend time with. I am thankful that Ben has night class...it means we are educated parents, doing what we think is right for our children.  I am thankful that we have school activities to take the kids to....it means that we are involved in our kids' school - not just as teachers, but as parents too. I am thankful that we have appointments at the bank and the doctor....it means we have the means to build a new house for our family to grow in, and we are keeping our children healthy. I am thankful we have family birthday parties on the weekends...it means that our family is close and spends time together. 

I am thankful that we have three small boys that keep us BUSY but fill our life with so much love and joy. Being BUSY is not a bad thing. Being BUSY means that we are right where we want to be. 

We are BUSY and we are so blessed. 

No Last Name

We had the boys' parent-teacher conferences tonight. Evan's were great. He is doing well in first grade. He is doing well reading and writing. Math appears to be his strong point. His teacher said that he is a very caring and compassionate child. He is working hard and she was very proud of him. He is a deep thinker...he comprehends stories well, and links them to a deeper meaning.

Isaac's conferences went well too. He has come a long way in preschool. He is holding his pencil/crayon perfect and is cutting well too. He still needs to work on writing his name. He now writes the I and then leaves a big space and then two a's and a c. He leaves the space for the teacher to write the S....remember, he doesn't do s's because they're too hard. 

Today, she was assessing them on different items to put on their report card....when asked what his last name was, he told his teacher he didn't have one......

He got a ND (needs developing) on that.......

Tonight, when I got home I asked him what his last name was. Guess what he told me???

Kalainoff

Yep, that's what I thought!